In lighting fixtures of the type normally utilized in the dental, medical and other similar fields, handles are commonly employed so that the dentist, doctor or any other person performing the operation or treatment can adjust the position of the fixture. Typically, the dentist, doctor or other person performing the operation or treatment makes such an adjustment manually (i.e., by gripping the handle with his or her hand or hands). The handles, therefore, present a potential health problem because of the possibility that they could serve as a vehicle for transmitting infection and/or disease from one patient to another. Nowadays, the significance of this problem has taken on new dimensions due to the public's increasing concern over the transmission of communicable diseases, such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Over the years, various attempts have been made to insure the sterile or aseptic condition of handles for dental, medical or similar lighting fixtures. For instance, disposable covers and antiseptic sprays have been used. Also, detachable handles have been proposed (see, for instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,254,454 and 4,254,455, both of which are owned by the assignee of the present invention and which disclose lighting fixtures that have been commercially successful for a number of years), some even with the specific object of being removable for the purpose of sterilization (see, for instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,887,801 and 4,316,237). The mechanisms employed by these prior art devices to render them removable are, however, disadvantageous because of their inability to be removed quickly and easily or because of other inadequacies or inefficiencies in their construction and design.